Ocean Beach Pier
Concrete fishing pier stretching into the surf, open around the clock with no license required to cast a line.
This guide to the Ocean Beach Pier in San Diego opens on opening day, July 2, 1966, when seven thousand people watched Governor Pat Brown cast a line for the cameras while a boat trailing a Reagan for Governor banner idled offshore. It traces the fight to get the pier built at all, including an earthquake half a world away that sent waves rolling in to topple piles and nearly a crane while crews were still pouring concrete. The guide also covers the neighbors who chipped in extra money to stretch the pier further into the surf. Walk to the end and watch the same contest between patience and an uncooperative ocean that opened the place.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.